Fiscal Cliff Aversion and the affect for small business & home builders..

With the last-minute avoidance of the fiscal cliff there are some positive outcomes, if only temporary, for small business owners & home builders.  Here are some brief summaries:

Business Tax Items - Permanently extends the 2001/2003 tax rates for adjusted gross income levels under $450,000 ($400,000 single); good for small business and home builders, 80% of whom are pass-thru entities who pay taxes on the individual side of the code

Permanently extends the Alternative Minimum patch; again, good for small business owners who are frequently at risk of paying AMT

Permanently sets the parameters of the estate tax; positive for family-owned construction firms; codifies the 2010 $5 million exemption amount (indexed to inflation) and a 40% estate tax rate

Extends present law section 179 small business expensing through the end of 2013; offers cash flow and administrative cost benefits for small firms

Extends the section 45L new energy-efficient home tax credit through the end of 2013; allows a $2,000 tax credit for the construction of for sale and for-lease energy-efficient homes in buildings with fewer than three floors above grade

Homeowner Tax Items

Extends through the end of 2013 mortgage debt tax relief; important rule that prevents tax liability from many short sales or mitigation workouts involving forgiven, deferred or canceled mortgage debt

Deduction for mortgage insurance extended through the end of 2013; reduces the cost of buying a home when paying PMI or insurance for an FHA or VA- insuredmortgage; $110,000 AGI phaseout remains

Extends the section 25C energy-efficient tax credit for existing homes through the end of 2013; important remodeling market incentive, although the lifetime cap remains at $500.

Reinstates the Pease/PEP phaseouts for deductions; for married taxpayers with AGI above $300,000 ($250,000 single), the Pease limitation reduces total itemized deductions by 3% for the dollar amount of AGI above the thresholds. This is a negative change for some high cost areas, but should only have small impacts. Example, a married household with $350,000 AGI would be $50,000 above the limit and must reduce their Schedule A total by $1,500 raising their taxes by about $500. Only a share of that would be due to the MID.

Multifamily Tax Items

Extends the 9% LIHTC credit rate for allocations through the end of 2013; absent the credit fix, the LIHTC program would suffer a loss of equity investment for affordable housing projects

Extension through the end of 2013 of base housing allowance rules for affordable housing

The above was taken from NAHB Eye on Housing